Man of the Moment (1955)

Civil Servant Norman becomes the favourite of the rulers of a South Seas island that the British have an interest in.

Director:

John Paddy Carstairs

Writers:

Maurice Cowan (original story), Vernon Sylvaine (screenplay),

Stars:

Norman Wisdom, Lana Morris, Belinda Lee

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Norman Wisdom	...	Norman
Lana Morris	...	Penny
Belinda Lee	...	Sonia
Jerry Desmonde	...	Jackson
Karel Stepanek	...	Lom
Garry Marsh	...	British Delegate
Inia Te Wiata	...	King of Tawaki
Evelyn Roberts	...	Sir Horace
Violet Farebrother	...	Queen of Tawaki
Martin Miller	...	Swiss Tailor
Eugene Deckers	...	Day Lift Man
Hugh Morton	...	Mitchell
Cyril Chamberlain	...	British Delegate
Lisa Gastoni	...	Chambermaid
Harold Kasket	...	Enrico

Storyline

Civil Servant Norman becomes the favourite of the rulers of a South Seas island that the British have an interest in.

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Plot Keywords:

camera shot of feet | female stockinged feet | four word title | based on play | actor shares first name with character

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 November 1955 (UK)

Also Known As:

Ich und der Herr Minister

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

J. Arthur Rank Organisation, Group Film Productions Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Room 101: Episode #11.1 (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Man of the Moment"
By Jack Fishman
Sung by The Beverley Sisters

User Reviews

Highly entertaining

Norman, a well-intentioned but clumsy and simple filing clerk in the British Civil Service is taken to Geneva with the British delegation of an international conference. When one of the delegates falls ill, Norman stands in for him and accidentally vetos a British and US endorsed plan to set up an experimentation base near the unspoilt island of Tawaki. He is thrown off the delegation, but his move earns him the respect of the Queen of Tawaki, so when the British attempt to reopen negotiations with her, they must fawn over Norman in order to use him as an instrument of negotiation.

The first twenty minutes of this film are very funny - a mad mixture of misunderstandings, caricatures (including a camp photographer) and well executed visual humour. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is not as funny

• once the delegation arrives in Geneva, the humour is subordinated to the

plot. Nevertheless, the plot is sufficiently interesting and there are still enough jokes to make this film enjoyable throughout. The humour comes mostly from Norman's childishness and his tendency to cause disasters wherever he goes. It's good fun, even though most of the film is not laugh-out-loud funny. However, there are a few stand out scenes, including the very funny tailor scene. There are three songs in the film, which I thought were unnecessary.

Norman Wisdom gives a good performance as the naive simpleton Norman. It is his performance that makes the film - none of the other cast members particularly impressed me (perhaps because I'm not familiar with many of them.) They were all good nevertheless, but Wisdom is the definite star of this film. Charles Hawtrey's role is sadly only a cameo and isn't particularly funny. A highly entertaining film which ought to be more famous.